Uconn

HARTFORD — Before Kelly Faris stepped onto a basketball court for UConn this season, she had already secured a permanent spot in the hearts of Huskies fans through her scrappy play, unselfishness, defensive intensity and the energy she provided the Huskies her first three seasons.

Her willingness to dive onto the floor for loose balls, fight for rebounds as an undersized 5-foot-11 power forward and do anything to help the Huskies win endeared her to coach Geno Auriemma almost from the moment she stepped on the campus.

The fact that Faris was often a liability on offense was easily overlooked, because everyone knew that no one worked harder to impact the program. That wasn't enough for Faris.

The new-look Faris scored a season-high 17 points Wednesday night to lead the Huskies to a 101-41 victory over Colgate in front of a crowd of 7,934 at the XL Center.

"It's been a long time coming so I'm hoping I can keep it going and stay consistent with it," Faris said. "I think right now we're all working together really well and getting a lot of different options. And, personally, I feel like I'm making better decisions than I used to. And I've got to keep working on that and keep getting better at it. But I feel good about where I'm at right now.''

Frustrated by the fact that opponents left her open the last couple seasons to double-team other UConn players, she was determined not to let that happen anymore. Or if teams chose to still back off of her defensively, she was going to make them pay.

So Faris worked diligently during the offseason to improve her outside shooting, and it had paid huge dividends so far.

She went into Wednesday's game leading the Big East in field goal percentage (.727, 16-for-22) and tied for the conference lead in 3-point shooting percentage (.545, 6-fot-11). Then she promptly went out and hit her first four shots against Colgate, including a pair of threes. She finished the game shooting 5-for-6 from the field and making all three of her 3-point attempts. She also had five assists and five rebounds.

"The last couple of years it hasn't worked out too well because we've all just kind of gotten stagnant on the court,'' Faris said. "I maybe have gotten some rebounds or set some screens. But we got the point where we relied on one or two players. If three people were having a bad game and only one person was the scorer, then we were kind of out of luck. So we can't have that this year. We've got to have multiple options all the time."

The Huskies also received a strong game from Stefanie Dolson with 18 points on 9-for-13 shooting with seven rebounds and three assists. She was happier about what Faris accomplished.

"It is awesome to see," Dolson said. "Kelly is always one of those people you root for, because she is just an awesome person on and off the court. She is always looking to help other people and get other people open on the court. When defense sags off of her and she is wide open for shots and she is knocking them in, you are always happy. She doesn't always get the recognition and praise other people get, because she kind of does the little things. So when she has awesome games like she had tonight and she is knocking in shots, everyone is happy for her."

Sophomore Brianna Banks scored a career-high 20 points, including a 4-for-5 performance from beyond the 3-point arc, to lead the Huskies in scoring. She also tied Faris for the game-high in assists with five and had a game-best four steals.

"I just wanted to play," Banks said. "I came here to play and not sit on the bench because I didn't have confidence. I would understand if it was a physical thing, but having confidence is something you really can control and get. That's just what I needed."

Breanna Stewart scored in double figures for the sixth straight game with 12 points and also pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. Bria Hartley finished with eight points and four assists in her first start of the season.

Of all the things that happened in the game, the most encouraging was clearly the continued efficient offensive production from Faris, who scored 15 of her points in the first half.

"I don't know anybody that's ever worked any harder than Kelly and no one deserves to be rewarded more than she does," Auriemma said. "There's always going to be a spot for her on any team at any level because making shots is just a bonus when you have somebody like Kelly.

"You look at her stat sheet today and that's pretty impressive for someone to be able to do all that. We're going to miss her, but not yet.''

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